June 3, 2005
This was a night to remember if you are a metal fan at all. One of the greatest thrash bands of all time coming together again at a small club in Virginia for the first of two historic shows. There will be many reviews written of this show and my job isn't so much to lay down the words as it is to record the images. What follows is that attempt.
Burning Shadows are another in a long line of talented local acts. From Silver Spring, MD, this young quartet play melodic power metal ala Iron Maiden/Iced Earth. They put on a lively set in front of an already large audience. Songs played included Supernatural Warfare, Marching To Victory and the thrashy instrumental, Wings Over Isengard.
Greg Jones handled lead guitar and vocals. His crystal clear speaking voice between songs made it a lot easier to take notes. Burning Shadows has two releases out - "The Darkest Winter" and "Amongst The Dying Waves" - both EP's.
Krass Judgement soon followed and opened with their trademark doomy intro. These guys, along with veterans Division, Stuck in Kaos and Rev 9, help form the core of highly talented local metal acts who always give you your moneys worth at Jaxx. Not that there are not others, we are very lucky in that respect to live in the DC area. James Shaw, at left, handled lead guitar admirably for this thrash oriented death metal gang.
KJ hail from Manassas, VA and have been shredding the local scene for 5 years. They played a couple of heart warming love songs including Demon Bitch and Personal Hell. Chris Green handles bass duties and Eric Jorgensen is on drums. Frontman Ray Duran takes care of lead vox along with rhythm guitar. These guys are always fun to watch! Good stuff.
Art of Destruction, from Chesapeake, VA, are one noisy trio. Their brutal death grind style was a little out of place with this thrash oriented crowd, but these guys are really good at what they do. Tight as a drum, the band soon had the moshers in full motion. Members include Chris Wallace - guitar, vocals, Steve McPecks - bass, vocals and Jaymz Horton - drums.
AOD were making a DVD live video of the show and the lengthy opening sampled intro was well done. Look for them on a death metal bill soon at Jaxx in the future. And arrive early to see them - they are worth it!
OMG - Alex Skolnick, Greg Christian, Louie Clemente, Eric Peterson and Chuck Billy - on stage together - the first time in many years. And their first show on US soil is at Jaxx. It was magic!
If God were a guitar player, he would be Alex Skolnick. Fast, tight, precise and just plain incredible. Not a lot of effects- just bend the strings and play. The solo on Electric Crown alone was worth the price of admission.
Alex has his side project, The Alex Skolnick Trio, for his jazz fix. Alex is back on tour with the Trio after the last Testament show in PA on June 5th. Lets hope the rumor mill is true and Testament decide to do a new album so we can get these guys back at Jaxx again. That is surely an album I would buy the day it came out.
Chuck Billy, ever the loquacious Frontman, was on form all night. He gave multiple props to Jay Nedry and Jaxx..... and the loyal metal fans who came out for the show.
Eric Peterson, no guitar slouch himself, had many highlights all night, but pretty much preferred to step back and let Alex have the spotlight. Very classy guy. His side project, Dragonlord, just finished recording their new album at Studio Fredman in Sweden. The album is due for release later this year and it would be great to get Eric and Dragonlord to make an appearance at Jaxx.
The set list from Fridays 1st show. I was able to obtain an original autographed copy (in green Sharpie by all five) of this before Saturdays show. If any Testament fan would like a high quality image of the autographed one - just email me and I'll be happy to send it to you. About a 300KB file size. TD
Greg Christian got some good natured kidding from Chuck Billy who at one point handed him the mike. It takes a certain personality to be a good Metal Frontman and Chuck has it. Greg is great at what he does and always seems to have a smile on his face.
Testament Sound Guru - George Geranios. George flew up from Austin, Texas to help Testament with their three US shows. He has helped them for years when needed and also has done a ton of work for Blue Oyster Cult and Anthrax. The sound was awesome both nights and Alex's solos were crystal clear. Enough to literally bring tears to my eyes. For an anecdotal article written by George about his experience with Blue Oyster Cult and their infamous Monsters of Rock Festival appearance at Castle Donington in 1981, read here. George, a lifetime New Yorker, moved to Texas years ago and now works full time at the University of Texas at Austin and was all set to put in a 12 hour day on Monday after their PA gig. Wow - this guy gets around.
Clearly, the guys were having a great time together again and showed it all night.
After a brief interlude, Testament came out and finished with Raging Waters and Disciples of The Watch.
Metal Babe Karen helped work the Testament merchandise display. Chuck Billy dedicated a song to Karen at Saturdays show. The band sold much more than anticipated and by Saturdays show close were almost sold out of everything they brought. Metal fans are great and it's tremendous how they support the bands.
Well, if you missed this one - shame on you! There are some things more important in life than a happy wife and kids. J/K !! History was made at Jaxx on this night and it was great to be a part of it. Stay tuned for more pics (higher quality images - bigger) from Saturdays show including a couple snapped of the guys outside together minutes before going on stage.
Testament at Jaxx - from The Washington Post
Metalheads prefer the old Testament. The band, that is. The recently reconstituted and influential menace-metal outfit pummeled a full house at Jaxx Friday with its first stateside show in more than a decade. Testament formed in Northern California in the early 1980s and seemed bound for Metallica-level success later in the decade. But such prosperity never came, and the band has been in disarray since the the1992 departure of guitar hero and onetime childhood prodigy Alex Skolnick. Now that he's back with others from the band's glory days, it's clear Skolnick has aged differently from his mates. While they have grown creepier-looking over time -- singer Chuck Billy, whose gargantuan body is covered by hair and tattoos, cuts as scary a figure as anybody who sings for a living -- Skolnick now exudes regular-guyness. He has a short coif and -- horror of horrors! -- no visible body ink or piercings. (For perspective on how odd this purity is, consider that Testament's lineups since Skolnick left the band have included musicians from groups with names such as Death, Obituary, Disincarnate, Cancer, Dark Angel, Sadus, Forbidden, Slayer and Evil Dead.) The band's hard-core followers are as ornery-looking as four-fifths of the band, which, layoff be damned, produced about 90 minutes of metal so heavy the CIA might want to prevent its export to Iran. Yet when Skolnick -- who while on hiatus from Testament composed big-band jazz for, among others, the Westminster Kennel Club broadcasts -- threw his trademark faux-classical licks lickety-split into the solo on "Thrown in the Fire," the fans cheered him as if he'd gotten "666" branded on his forehead. During "Disciples of the Watch," Billy, who in recent years won a bout with cancer that once had fans wondering if he'd ever screech about Beelzebub again, commanded the crowd to scream along with him lyrics such as "Obey! Or I'll burn you to that cross!" The moshers were too scared not to comply.
-- Dave McKenna link to page
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